Esther 3:1-7
HAMAN PLANS REVENGE AGAINST MORDECAI... [ Continue Reading ]
HAMAN PLANS REVENGE AGAINST MORDECAI... [ Continue Reading ]
After these things, some four years after the elevation of Esther to the position of queen, DID KING AHASUERUS PROMOTE HAMAN, THE SON OF HAMMEDATHA, THE AGAGITE, making him a great man in the empire, AND ADVANCED HIM, AND SET HIS SEAT ABOVE ALL THE PRINCES THAT WERE WITH HIM, by raising him to the r... [ Continue Reading ]
And all the king's servants that were in the king's gate, the lower officers of the court, BOWED AND REVERENCED HAMAN, giving him kingly and therefore divine honor, after the Persian custom; FOR THE KING HAD SO COMMANDED CONCERNING HIM. Ahasuerus claimed divine honor and reverence for himself, and h... [ Continue Reading ]
Then the king's servants, which were in the king's gate, the fellow-officers of Mordecai, SAID UNTO MORDECAL, WHY TRANSGRESSEST THOU THE KING'S COMMANDMENT? It displeased them that Mordecai refused to give Haman the homage which they had to show.... [ Continue Reading ]
Now, it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand, whether he would succeed in upholding the principle which he alleged in explanation of his action; FOR HE HAD TOLD THEM THAT HE WAS A JEW, wherefor... [ Continue Reading ]
And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath, regarding this refusal, according to Persian ideas, as the greatest insult which could have been offered him.... [ Continue Reading ]
And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone, revenge on this one man alone seemed too insignificant a matter to him; FOR THEY HAD SHOWED HIM THE PEOPLE OF MORDECAI, the despised race of the Jews; WHEREFORE HAMAN SOUGHT TO DESTROY ALL THE JEWS THAT WERE THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE KINGDOM OF AHASUER... [ Continue Reading ]
In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day and from month to month, the court astrologers and magicians being entrusted with this work of determining which day and month would be the most auspicio... [ Continue Reading ]
And Haman, still enjoying the king's favor to the full, SAID UNTO KING AHASUERUS, THERE IS A CERTAIN PEOPLE SCATTERED ABROAD AND DISPERSED AMONG THE PEOPLE IN ALL THE PROVINCES OF THY KINGDOM, skillfully insinuating that the Jews were aliens in manners and habits and enemies to the rest of his subje... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PLOT TO DESTROY THE JEWS... [ Continue Reading ]
If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed, as the Scythians had been massacred about a century before; AND I WILL PAY TEN THOUSAND TALENTS OF SILVER TO THE HANDS OF THOSE THAT HAVE THE CHARGE OF THE BUSINESS TO BRING IT INTO THE KING'S TREASURIES, this immense sum of some t... [ Continue Reading ]
And the king, carried away with pleasure by the clever proposition of Haman, TOOK HIS RING FROM HIS HAND, AND GAVE IT UNTO HAMAN, THE SON OF HAMMEDATHA, THE AGAGITE, THE JEWS' ENEMY, this being a token not only of intimate friendship, but also of royal authority to issue decrees and to imprint upon... [ Continue Reading ]
And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee. He was given a free hand to do as he had planned.... [ Continue Reading ]
Then were the king's scribes called, the secretaries who were always in attendance upon him, ON THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH, for Haman lost no time after deciding upon his plans, AND THERE WAS WRITTEN ACCORDING TO ALL THAT HAMAN HAD COMMANDED UNTO THE KING'S LIEUTENANTS, the satraps of the... [ Continue Reading ]
And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, for the system of royal posts by means of runners along the military highways was highly developed in Persia, TO DESTROY, TO KILL, AND TO CAUSE TO PERISH, ALL JEWS, BOTH YOUNG AND OLD, LITTLE CHILDREN AND WOMEN, IN ONE DAY, EVEN UPON... [ Continue Reading ]
The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people that they should be ready against that day. The edict was to be proclaimed and posted in public everywhere, in order to work up the people to the proper pitch of deadly hate and to effect the exterm... [ Continue Reading ]
The posts went out, being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan, the palace, issued from this residence of the king. AND THE KING AND HAMAN SAT DOWN TO DRINK, to indulge in sensual enjoyments without giving their cruelty a further thought; BUT THE CITY SHUSHAN WAS P... [ Continue Reading ]